Problems with Navy New $13 Billion USS Gerald R. Ford Super carrier

Problems with Navy New $13 Billion USS Gerald R. Ford Supercarrier

Brand-new Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is facing many major problems right now. Following are the problem USS Gerald R. Ford is facing

According to Navy Times, problems reside in the mechanical components associated with turning steam created by the nuclear plant into spinning screws that power the ship through the water

NAVSEA told Bloomberg that shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls identified the issue as a “manufacturing defect” rather than an overall design flaw.

Ford has been tasked with conducting critical test and evaluation operations that identify construction and design issues

As a continuation of that testing and evaluation process, Ford got underway to conduct an independent steaming event that would allow the ship and its crew to continue testing its systems and procedures.

Problems with Navy New $13 Billion USS Gerald R. Ford Super carrier

News of Ford’s propulsion issues comes months after an intensive assessment. The report revealed a slew of technical problems plaguing the Pentagon’s first new carrier design in nearly four decades.

Those problems included “poor or unknown reliability” among critical systems and, most embarrassingly

inconsistencies with that brand-new “digital” Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS) that President Donald Trump railed against last year.

Even if Ford’s myriad issues are worked out through the Navy’s standard testing evaluation protocol, news of the propulsion issues couldn’t have emerged at a worse time for the service.

NAVSEA announced on May 11 that the Navy would have to shell out an additional $120 million for the carrier, bringing its total cost to around $13.03 billion —well above the $12.9 billion cap set by Congress back in April.

It doesn’t help that the Navy is currently pushing lawmakers to expedite the purchase of a fourth Ford-class aircraft carrier.